Archive | October, 2010

The Autumn Leaves Drift By My Window

28 Oct

The scenery outside my window reminds of that old song…

The falling leaves drift by the window
The autumn leaves of red and gold…

…although the remainder of the song isn’t applicable. Winston, my dog, has not gone away (thankfully) and his paws weren’t ever sunburnt this summer (another amen). I couldn’t resist posting this photo I took this week on Mendenhall. It also is a good placeholder as I have nothing else to report on this week but grocery lists and banquet dinners.  I’ll be back on Monday with reports on Halloween in Westerwood.

Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners

26 Oct

Today I had the pleasure of meeting Sara Moulton at The Extra Ingredient while she is touring with her recently released book, Everyday Family Dinners. Sara Moulton is one of the first cooking personalities I can remember. Long before many of today’s popular cooking personalities, she hosted Sara’s Secrets as one of the original stars of the Food Network.  Her modest kitchen showcased real cooking techniques and practices and skipped the grocery store short cuts that seem to overwhelm the tube these days. When bragging to my sister about today’s meet up she reminded me how much she loved Sara because she always cooked with her daughter on her show – much like we grew up doing with our mother.

Sara was everything I expected – short (literally) and sweet (figuratively) - but I was mostly humbled by the amount of attention Sara gave me and my friend Ashley (who I must credit for initiating our visit) and interest she took in my blog. And when she said she would check it out I immediately starting feeling anxious about how I would describe our visit. What would normally be a somewhat witty post about my dislike for blenders and dirty dishes suddenly felt very elementary. But in all honesty, that is exactly who I am – a wannabe witty home cook with a hatred for blenders and excess dirty dishes, so I embarked on a mission to recreate one of Sara’s recipes – Chicken with Caramelized Fennel but only using one cast iron skillet. Instead of using three separate pieces (two pans and a blender) I broke down the cooking process and ending up with a more rustic dish. This may not be the exact dish she had in mind, comparing it to her experience cooking at La Tulipe, but I think the flavor combination turned out similarly (delightfully delicious).

In preparation for meeting Sara and writing this post, I spent a good deal of time reading and studying her book. I was surprised by the diversity of recipes that Sara shares. From kimchi to kielbasa she spans global cuisine breaking down recipes for the home cook (Sara, I forgot to ask you – Why so much kimchi? If you’re out there please let this curious blogger know!). If you are looking to expand your cooking repertoire, I advise you pick up a copy and start experimenting. From what I gathered today from my short visit with Sara,  that is what she wants more than anything – more cooks to share her passion.

Cast Iron Chicken with Caramelized Fennel adapted from Sara Moulton’s Everyday Family Dinners

Ingredients:

  • 1 large fennel bulb, in 1/4 inch  lengthwise slices  
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 3 or 4 chicken breasts with bones and skin
  • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest
  • salt and pepper

Assembly: Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Add 1 tablespoon of oil and butter into a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Add fennel slices and allow to caramelize for about 5 to 8 minutes per side. Make sure to monitor the browning as heat is different on all stovetops. Once fennel is golden brown on each side, remove from the pan and set aside. Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and season your chicken breasts liberally with freshly ground pepper and kosher salt. Add the chicken to the pan skin side down. Allow to brown until golden. Turn the chicken over and add the fennel back into the pan around the chicken. Then add garlic, chopped sun-dried tomatoes and lemon zest. Allow to cook until the both sides of the chicken are brown and garlic has become fragrant. Pour the chicken stock over the fennel mixture and put the entire skillet into the oven. Cook for about 25 to 30 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked and stock has slightly reduced. Garnish with fresh fennel fronds.

Sara’s visit comes at perfect timing as The Extra Ingredient is in the process of celebrating their 25th anniversary. From what I can imagine, they are one of the few locally owned and operated cooking stores still around. Owner, Art Nading dressed in his mossy green Extra Ingredient Buy Local t-shirt, greeted me with a friendly smile and even asked if he could grab me a cup of coffee while I waited.  Why not support the businesses that support our local economy? We have no excuse.

Thanks to The Extra Ingredient for this opportunity. I’ll see you soon.

Weekend Wrap Up + Cracker Porn / Green Peppercorn Cornmeal Crackers

25 Oct

I was grateful to be giggling with my good friends Patrick and Andrew tonight enjoying the last bits of summer pesto and fall warmth on Andrew’s terrace. After a weekend full of excitement complete with dirty dogs and Elon Homecoming, I concluded my Sunday with gossip and our predictions for the awaiting week’s gossip. Patrick used the last of Andrew’s basil and made a quick pesto to spread on homemade Green Peppercorn Cornmeal Crackers to accompany his hometown Gethsemani cheese (ode to stinky).

The full giggling aroused when I asked Patrick exactly what kind of crackers he made. He said, “Did you say cracker porn?” and I said ”No, I said peppercorn.” We laughed and the bittersweet feeling of the weekend’s finale sunk in.

Green-Peppercorn Cornmeal Crackers from Epicurious.com

Ingredients:

  • 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornmeal (preferably stone-ground)
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons packed light brown sugar
  • 4 teaspoons dried green peppercorns, coarsely crushed, divided
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
  • 2/3 cup well-shaken buttermilk
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 large egg, beaten

Whisk together flours, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, brown sugar, 2 teaspoons peppercorns, and table salt in a bowl. Blend in butter using a pastry blender or your fingertips until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk and stir just until a dough forms. Turn dough out onto a floured surface and gently knead 6 to 8 times. Cut into 5 pieces, then chill, covered with plastic wrap, 10 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350°F with racks in upper and lower thirds.  Mix kosher salt and remaining 2 teaspoons peppercorns in a small bowl.  Roll out 1 piece of dough on a well-floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 15- by 4-inch rectangle (1/8 inch thick). Lightly brush with egg, then prick all over with a fork. Sprinkle with about 1/2 teaspoon salt-and-pepper mixture.  Cut crosswise into 12 strips and arrange 1/8 inch apart on a parchment-paper-lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough.  Bake, switching position of sheets halfway through, until golden-brown and crisp, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool crackers slightly, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Giant Butternut Squash Tortellini with Brown Butter and Walnuts

21 Oct

I have never been a huge fan of butternut squash but made it a priority to cook and post using seasonal ingredients as much as possible. And you just can’t get through Fall without using this abnormal looking ingredient. But very surprisingly, these giant pillows of sweet and savory goodness changed my opinion about butternut squash completely! This dish looks like it took all day, but with egg roll wrappers from the produce section of the grocery store, it is a quick and easy process. You can also make these smaller by using wonton wrappers. So, run over to the farmers market this weekend and pick up some butternut squash and make these – Pronto!

Giant Butternut Squash Tortellini with Brown Butter and Walnuts

Ingredients:

  • 1 large butternut squash
  • 1 medium onion
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 3 to 4 small fresh sage leaves, chopped
  • 1 handful pecorino romano cheese (to taste)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 box fresh egg roll wrappers (in the produce section)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 small bag walnuts
  • 2 tablespoons more butter

Assembly: Peal, remove seeds and cut the butternut squash into 2 inch chunks. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and roast for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Meanwhile, saute the onion, garlic and sage in  butter on low until brown and caremelized. When the squash is fork tender remove, add the onion mixture and squash into a bowl and mash with the back of a fork. Add a handful of cheese and taste for seasoning.

Using the egg roll wrappers one by one (leave them in the package to prevent drying out), cut the wrapper to make a square. Add a tablespoon of the mixture in the middle and brush the edges of the wrapper with an egg wash (one egg whisked). Fold and seal the edges together to make a triangle (make sure to squeeze out any air). Then bring together two of the triangle points together and seal just the tips. It should somewhat resemble the photo above. Repeat until you run out of mixture – or wrappers!

If making in advance, cover tortellini with a damp towel. When ready to serve, boil the tortellini in small batches for about 3 or 4 minutes. To make the brown butter, add the butter to a hot pan and heat until the butter foam resides. Lower the temperature to prevent burning. Toss the tortellini in the brown butter and scatter walnuts on top (toast the walnuts if you want to really bring out their flavor!).

Herbed Pork Tenderloin with Pancetta and Fried Capers

20 Oct

You know life is sweet when you have dinner at the Goat Lady Dairy Farm and this meal in the same weekend. With a round of Goat Lady Camembert as inspiration, I put together a weekend meal of Camembert & Simple Kneads Baguette, Herbed Pork Tenderloin with Pancetta and Fried Capers, Giant Butternut Squash Tortellini with Brown Butter and Walnuts and a light arugula and lemon salad. This meal was over-the-top good and a great compliment to a good botle of red wine, Harvest Moon on Pandora and the first fireplace lighting of the season. Additionally, it left enough pork for sandwiches for the week and tortellini in the freezer for another night.

I highly recommend this menu for a special – 0r ordinary - evening in. It is foolproof and one of the best meals I’ve made in a long time!

Herbed Pork Tenderloin with Pancetta and Fried Capers from William Sonoma Entertaining with the Seasons

Ingredients:

  • olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
  • 2 tablespoons fresh sage
  • 1 tablespoon fennel seeds, crushed
  • 1.5 teaspoons salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
  • 2 pork tenderloins, about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds (typically comes in 1 package)
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • thinly sliced pancetta

Fried Capers

  • 1/4 cup capers
  • cornmeal
  • 1/2 cup olive oil

Assembly: Marinate the pork in a mixture of olive oil, rosemary, sage, fennel, salt, pepper and garlic for about 4 or 5 hours (or overnight). About an hour and a half before you want to serve, take the pork out – and rub off a little of the marinade (not all of it, this isn’t scientific). Place the pork on a roasting pan and layer slices of pancetta over the top of the tenderloins. Let the meat come to room temperature – this will take about an hour. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roast the pork for about 30 minutes or until the meat is 150 degrees in its thickest part. At this point you may want to quickly broil the top of the meat if the pancetta isnt crispy enough (that was my solution). Let the meat rest about 10  minutes and slice thinly. Arrange the meat and scatter fried capers on top!

I recommend frying the capers while the meat comes to room temperature or roasts. Drain the capers and dredge in a small bowl of cornmeal. Heat olive oil on high and fry the capers in batches until golden brown. If the oil is too hot, you will notice. Just play with the temperature until the fry for about a minute until golden brown. This step may seem daunting but it is totally worth it!

My New Goat Friends

19 Oct

Fall Farm Photos

18 Oct

Goat Lady Dairy Farm Dinner

17 Oct

 

Friday night my friends and I traveled thirty minutes south to Climax, NC for a quintessential Triad food experience – dinner at the Goat Lady Dairy Farm. I have been eating, cooking and drooling over Goat Lady Cheese since I moved to Greensboro five years ago but had never gotten the chance to visit the farm until this weekend. And as I am hinting at the idea of expanding MMoM outside my home kitchen, this experience seemed like another perfect adventure to report. We booked our dinner reservations several months ago crossing our fingers in hopes for the perfect fall night. Karma was good and delivered a sunny, crisp and cool night on the farm.

The Goat Lady Dairy is perfectly picturesque from the red barn placed strategically at the end of long rows of fall crops (broccoli, bok choy, cabbages, lettuces and more), chickens and roosters scattering around charming cocka-doodle-doo (charming for me, at least) and the friendliest of goats nibbling and nuzzling. The dinner experience at the farm begins with a detailed tour of their philosophy, family and farm. After all your questions on goat retirement plans are answered, you are seated for a five course meal including a cheese course and a bonus conclusion of coffee and goat cheese chocolate truffles on the porch. Nearing the end of the night as I asked myself  “How am I so lucky to be included in this experience?” and “Do we ever have to leave?” – the subtle scent of goat wafted in the air during our nightcap reminding me that moderation is the key to happiness. We traveled home at 10pm full of cheese and contentment in time for bed and the farmers market early the next morning. I’ll share photos from our evening this week.

To My Friends & Readers, Thank You!

14 Oct

Last night after wrapping up a successful synerG and Greensboro Partnership candidates forum I dragged my tired feet down Elm Street to meet friends for a burger and glass of red wine. Stopping into Downtown’s newest restaurant, Bin 33, was like taking a trip down memory lane, as my friends from the Guilford Green Foundation were also celebrating another year of grantmaking to the local LGBT Community. Through numerous hellos and hugs with new and old friends was the same conversation – “Did you win?” and I was happy to share that, I did win the GoTriad 2010 Readers Choice Award for Best Local Blogger.  Sharing the news was yet another reminder of what MMOM is all about – a deeply rooted network of real world friends that continue support and share my journey. So, thank you for your votes – I’m one lucky girl to have you all as friends and readers.

Mom’s Creamy Pasta with Chicken, Mushrooms and Capers

13 Oct

When you think having a Rachel Ray or Jamie Oliver iPhone application is handy, try having a mother that can rattle off a recipe while you are walking through the grocery store. When I’m in a rush or trying to be a responsible driver, I typically call my mother for recipe ideas. I did this on Friday when leaving work and putting together a quick dinner for my neighbors. Her suggestion, which is very typical, was not a recipe but something she throws together from time to time. She walked me through the store telling me how to make it and what to buy. It was the perfect suggestion – considering I wanted to serve a pasta dish with a happy medium between tomato and cream sauce. I put this together in less than an hour and left the store only spending about thirty bucks. My tab included a bottle of wine and bread to serve alongside too. With a salad coming from across the street – we were set. It was hit – a perfect meal for a weeknight or quick dinner party.

Mom’s Creamy Pasta with Chicken, Mushrooms and Capers

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound chicken tenders
  • 1 pint cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes with basil (14 ounces)
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • 1/4 to 1/2 cup half and half
  • 1 small handful, capers
  • 1 pound linguine
  • salt and pepper
  • olive oil
  • ** add parm and fresh parsley for garnish!

Assembly: Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Heat  oil in a large skillet and brown chicken (you don’t need to cook all the way through). Meanwhile, boil salted water and cook pasta. Remove the chicken and add the mushrooms. Brown the mushrooms and then add the tomatoes and white wine. Simmer and reduce for about five or eight minutes. Add cream slowly and stir until combines. Add capers (to your liking). Taste for seasoning. Stir in pasta and enjoy!

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